concept of the physical basis of heredity expressed by the 19th-century biologist August Weismann. According to his theory, germ plasm, which is independent from all other cells of the body (somatoplasm), is the essential element of germ cells (eggs and sperm) and is the hereditary material that is passed from generation to generation. Weismann first proposed this theory in 1883; it was later published in his treatise Das Keimplasma (1892; The Germ-Plasm: A Theory of Heredity). This view contradicted Lamarck’s theory of acquired characteristics, which was a prevalent theory of heredity of the time. Although the details of the germ-plasm theory have been modified, its premise of the continuity of hereditary material is the basis of the modern understanding of the process of physical inheritance.
Link to this article and share the full text with the readers of your Web site or blog-post.
If you think a reference to this article on "germ-plasm theory" will enhance your Web site,
blog-post, or any other web-content, then feel free to link to this article,
and your readers will gain full access to the full article, even if they do not subscribe to our service.
You may want to use the HTML code fragment provided below.
We welcome your comments. Any revisions or updates suggested for this article will be reviewed by our editorial staff. Contact us here.
Regular users of Britannica may notice that this comments feature is less robust than in the past. This is only temporary, while we make the transition to a dramatically new and richer site. The functionality of the system will be restored soon.